


Picking up the Pieces, Building up a Whole

by geeelatinnn



Category: SixTONES (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Domestic romance, Fluff, M/M, Romance, Tears, Violence, i miss kyomojuri okay?, idk what to put on tags, let them make sense, tags will pop up on their own as the story progresses, things makes sense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:34:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25861405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geeelatinnn/pseuds/geeelatinnn
Summary: Juri just wants nothing more than to live his life without any trouble until one day a cat ran with his necklace in the middle of the night. At the park, he finds an unidentified man. Not wanting any trouble, he took the man to his apartment to get treated by his friend, Kouchi. Little did he know that this man would bring changes to his life. Is it going to be good or bad, Juri is yet to know.
Relationships: Kyomoto Taiga/Tanaka Juri
Comments: 10
Kudos: 30





	1. What do we have here?

**Author's Note:**

> Here we have another one of my KyomoJuri fiasco mostly because I miss writing KyomoJuri and partly because I have had this shelved for a month maybe it's time to take this out. Will Juri yet again get hurt in this whole fiasco? We don't know yet. Will Hokuto show up? Let's just say he has a special role later on.
> 
> I hope you enjoy what would come next and please if you have time to talk to me about this do not hold back and just hit me up because honestly I just hope things make sense enough for the readers to enjoy this experimental fiasco.
> 
> If you want to talk or have any suggestions or requests hit me up at Twitter @geeelatinnn

Juri woke up in the middle of night as he heard a cat purring. When he opened his eyes he saw a yellowish orange cat by the window, with his necklace in its mouth. He urgently got up and tried to pry his necklace from the cat but it ran out of the open window, the cold night wind hitting Juri awake on his face. He went out of his apartment wearing only his sweatpants and sweatshirt, in a hurry to find the damn black cat, and thankfully he found the cat, his necklace shiny on its mouth. He let out a sigh of relief. Juri ran after it and was led to the park near his apartment, it was empty as it was the dead of night already who would be walking around at this hour. The cat went behind a tree but when Juri caught up with it he found a blond man behind the tree instead of a cat, his necklace was on the man’s lap.

Juri gasped at the sight of a seemingly beaten man leaning on the tree. The man had a few cuts and bruises on his face and his sleeves were tattered as well. Juri checked if the man had a pulse, which he did, and was about to call for help when the man weakly held his wrist, taking uneven breaths with his lips slightly parted.

Juri’s eyes locked with the blond man’s eyes as the other one was shaking his head no before collapsing on Juri. He found neither a wallet nor an ID on the man, it was dark and they were in a public place Juri did not want to be misunderstood by anyone that he decided to take the unidentified man to his apartment, a judgement he knew he might regret doing later but he convinced himself that he had no other choice and he just really didn’t like getting caught up in any trouble. He carried him up, the man weighing a little more than himself. Juri endured carrying the man as it was much more convenient taking him to his apartment than getting dragged to a police station and getting asked questions he wouldn’t have answers to.

Juri put him down on his sofa and called Kouchi over, lucky for him his doctor best friend lived just above his unit and was so kind to give in to his favor even after reminding Juri that he was not the kind of doctor Juri needed in a situation like this. Under a brighter light than that in the park, he could now notice that the man’s white clothes were marked with both blood and dirt.

Kouchi cleaned the man’s bruises and bandaged up his scars after disinfecting them, teaching Juri along the way what he needed to do when the bandages needed changing and how often he should do it. The man remained unconscious all throughout the process, they changed his clothes with some of Juri’s. The man’s clothes wouldn’t be of any use in their state anyway that Juri decided to throw them away. Seeing the label on them though made him think that he may be in some trouble because of this, the man’s clothes alone was worth his rent judging on the labels. They noticed a tattoo on the man’s wrist.  _ Kyomoto _ on the left and  _ Taiga _ on the right.

“Who is he, Juri?” Kouchi asked when he was by the doorway as Juri was sending him out.

“I don’t know.” Juri shook his head. “I just found him at the park. I was going to call for help but when our eyes met he looked… scared. I didn’t want to go through any trouble so I just took him here for now.”

“What if he’s someone dangerous? Are you off work tomorrow?” Kouchi started spouting one question after another that Juri’s sleepy state could no longer comprehend.

“What if he’s not and he needs help?”

“Juri, remember, it’s always the beautiful ones that are dangerous.” Kouchi said before he left.

Juri went back to the living room and adjusted the air condition’s temperature so it wouldn’t be too cold. He looked closer at the man he found, now that he’s all cleaned up his pale skin was even more evident, his frame was just right for his sofa, and his face even though quite a bit of it was covered with bandages you could tell that he is in fact beautiful just as Kouchi noted. He took one of his extra blankets and put it over the man before he resigned to his room and slept. Or at least he tried to, he was thinking about the man he had just found. Why was he in the park at night? Why did he have scars? Was he escaping from somewhere?

* * *

Juri got out of his room and found that the man was still asleep, peacefully, on his sofa. He wrote a note saying he could eat anything in the fridge when he wakes up and wait for him to come back before leaving because he still needs to change his bandages. Juri tried to make as little noise as possible as he got ready for work, not wanting to accidentally wake the unknown man sleeping on his couch as he had no spare time to deal with him before work.

Juri almost completely forgot about the stranger he left at his home once he got started on his work as he was running after meeting article deadlines. It didn’t help that Shintarou reported late to work again and he needed Shintarou’s photos to complete the articles’ layouts he needed to submit for approval this afternoon. He needed to work even through his lunch break, almost never leaving his chair for the full 8 hours at work except for the occasional water refill and comfort room breaks. He wanted to get as much work down so he could go back and check on his place already. Still, with it being crunch time and all, he was not able to leave the office early and was only able to leave at half past 8pm.

Juri looked through missing person announcements on his way home but none of them looked like the man he took in. He tried searching for the name on the wrist of the man but nothing showed up. He sighed defeatedly, wondering what sort of trouble could he have possibly gotten himself into.

When the man heard the door of the apartment open, he stood up from the sofa and went to the hallway, peeking slightly first at who it was and when he saw a flash of pink hair he went and stood by the corridor. His face was blank and looked at Juri as though he was familiarizing with Juri’s form.

“Ah, you’re up.” Juri said as he took off his shoes.

The man did not answer but instead laid out Juri’s indoor slippers for him, moving to the side as Juri made his way into the apartment. The man followed close behind him as Juri placed down his bag and coat on one of the chairs in the living room.

“Let’s change your bandages and clean your wounds.” Juri glanced at the balcony and found laundry hanging, his laundry that he has not washed yet. “Did you do the laundry?”

The man looked outside and nodded hesitantly, unknowing if he made a mistake and should not have done that. The man was still wearing the clothes Juri put on him yesterday and Juri thought he probably hasn’t taken a bath yet. Everything in his living room seemed to be in order, nothing appeared to be missing.

“You should take a bath first before we clean your wounds.”

The man nodded as a response to him yet again. He just kept on looking at Juri, waiting for whatever he would be told to do and following him around the apartment. 

Juri went to the bathroom with the man a few steps behind him. He left the water running to fill the bathtub as he took some fresh clothes for the man and took the underwear he bought on his way home. He found him watching the water fill up the bathtub, just before it got filled too much the man turned off the faucet.

"You can already get in." Juri said to the man as he placed the set of clothes down on top of the sink and then he heard a splash of water. "No!" He shouted as he pulled the man out of the bathtub. "You should have removed your bandages and clothes first."

The man tilted his head to the side, confused, he did what Juri told him to and he could not understand why Juri was panicked when he simply obeyed him. Juri let out a sigh and started taking off the man's bandages, gently to avoid adding unnecessary pain to what the man was probably already feeling.

“This isn’t really proper but I’d have to say it. Please take your clothes off.”

The man obeyed what Juri said without even having second thoughts and stripped off his clothes until he was fully naked on the bathtub. A smile spread on the man's face as he sat on the bathtub. Juri couldn't help but look at him, even though he knows better than to look at a naked man in his bathtub that he doesn't even know, it was hard not too. Even in such a mundane task of soaking in the water it was as though the beauty of this man commands your attention. But the man doesn't seem to be bothered by it and even looked at Juri, a smile still plastered on his face. Juri was drawn in by his beauty and found himself sitting on the edge of the bathtub.

"Is the water warm enough?" He asked and got a nod in return. Juri reached for the shampoo. "You can use this to clean your hair."

Instead of getting the shampoo from his hand, the man moved closer to him and turned his back on him so that Juri could easily reach his hair. Juri seemed to have understood what he meant and put some shampoo in his hands before massaging the man's scalp. He rinsed the man's hair using the shower and helped him get out of the bathtub wrapping him in a towel to dry off.

After getting him dressed he took him to the living room to clean his wounds. The man still wasn't talking and watched Juri closely as he cleaned the wounds and changed the bandages. He would wince from time to time when he felt a pang of pain as the antiseptics hit his wounds and his fingers sometimes twitch, but still no word or sound came out of his mouth.

Juri held both his wrists with his hands. "Kyomoto Taiga." Juri said as he ran his fingers over the man's wrists. "Is that your name?"

Taiga nodded and smiled at him. Taiga's stomach grumbled and he flushed, breaking eye contact with Juri.

"Did you eat anything?"

Taiga shook his head.

"I left you a note saying you can eat anything you wanted."

Taiga looked at the note that was still at the same place as where Juri left it.

Juri let out a sigh. "Wait here and I'll make us something to eat."

Taiga followed him into the kitchen, watching him as he made dinner for the two of them. Taiga ate everything that was on his plate, it was wiped clean without even a single grain of rice left. He smiled at Juri when Juri glanced at him. There was no uneasy feeling for Juri, he felt at ease in the presence of Taiga. He felt… happy. Happy to have come home to someone waiting for him. Happy to be sharing a meal with someone. Even though it was with a complete stranger who was not talking. But he seemed harmless, he could have robbed Juri while he was away at work but instead he washed the laundry.

"Did you like it?"

Taiga nodded happily, sitting up straight from his chair.

"After I clean up here I could go with you to your home. Your family might be looking for you."

The smile on Taiga's face faded. He looked down on the table and shook his head.

"You don't want to go home? You don't want to leave?"

Taiga nodded without meeting Juri's eyes, he kept his head down.

"But, Taiga - "

Without letting him finish, Taiga stood up and went out to the balcony. Taiga sat at the corner, lifting up his knees and wrapping his arms around his legs to hold himself together. Juri cleaned up the dishes they used and gave Taiga some time to cool off. Juri changed his clothes before he went to Taiga, finding him in that state made his heart clench a little.

Juri sat down beside him, looking at Taiga's eye he could sense that he was sad. His eye was different from when he was taking his bath and eating his meal, it looked bright earlier and now they just looked… empty. One of his eyes was still covered by the bandage.

Juri defeatedly sighed. "If... you are going to stay here." 

Taiga looked to his direction, hopeful for what would come next.

"If, you want to stay here. Know that I'm almost always late going home and there are times when I could be grumpy."

Taiga was nodding along as Juri talked. Juri described the layout of his apartment: two bedrooms, the bathroom was next to Juri’s room, the kitchen and dining area, his living room with a sofa, center table, and two single seaters at the ends of the center table, and how no one else was living there but him.

"I don't like messy things. And I don't want to get involved in anything. I read a lot of scandals and issues enough at work I wouldn't want to be part of a headline."

Taiga shook his head.

"Let's go inside because you might catch a cold." Juri stood up and Taiga followed behind him. He opened a door. "This is the guest room. My friend, Jesse, usually spends the night here whenever he's bored and has free days but I'll just tell him he can't come over for a while. You can use this room for now."

Taiga nodded. He followed after Juri as Juri walked over to the other room.

"You don't have to always follow me around, you know?"

Taiga tilted his head. Juri let out another sigh and half pushed Taiga to the guest bedroom. He tucked him in the bed and patted his head. Taiga just kept smiling at him without saying anything. It felt like he took in a child to take care of, but a sense of being needed felt good for him too.

Juri put his hand over Taiga's eyes. "Sleep and dream of wonderful things. Maybe tomorrow I could hear a word come from you. But you don't have to force yourself."

Juri went back to his room. He thought that Taiga could stay at his house for as long as he wants so long as he does not bring in trouble for him. It was a nice change to have someone waiting at home for you.


	2. meet my friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Juri.” Jesse broke the silence. “Your…. Uhm…. friend?” He looked over at Shintarou who gave him a thumbs up before he continued. “Your friend is sort of scaring me.”
> 
> “Yeah, well, you’re scaring him as well so I guess that makes you even, right?” Juri said as he mixed the chicken with the sauce that he made. “Taiga. Go get the serving plate and transfer the rice there, it’s in that drawer.”

Juri stretched out his legs, his feet hit something and he sat up from his bed so fast that blood rushed to his head. It took him a while to regain composure and was shocked to see Taiga at the bottom of his bed curled up, his head resting on his arm. Juri sat beside Taiga with his legs crossed.

"Taiga." Juri tapped him gently. "Taiga, why are you sleeping there?"

Taiga shuffled and slowly opened his eyes, just enough to see Juri. He moved from the spot where he was sleeping and rested his head on Juri's lap. Taiga's breath was even, he was at ease to be around Juri's presence.

Juri couldn't bring himself to push Taiga away. For one, he looked really peaceful and Juri felt needed by this strange beautiful man that he took in, something that weirdly made him feel good about himself. Juri caressed Taiga's hair with one hand while typing a message on his phone with the other.

Juri: ** _Jesse, are you free today?_**

Jesse: ** _Maybe at night. Why?_**

Juri: ** _Do you still have all those sample clothes that don't fit you? Or anything that doesn't fit you anymore?_**

Jesse: ** _I'm free today. And I did indeed receive a lot of free clothing again that doesn't fit me. Do you want them?_**

Juri: ** _Could you bring them over later tonight?_**

Jesse: ** _Yeah, sure. Can I stay over?_**

Juri looked down to Taiga before typing in his message.  **_My guest room is kind of occupied for now but you may stay for dinner._ **

Jesse: **_Now you got me curious about who is occupying your guest room. Hahahahaha. I'll pick you up at work then because I'm such a nice friend._**

Juri: _**You**_ ** _don't even know how to drive let alone own a car._**

Jesse: ** _But I can afford to book one. See you later. I'm on a location shoot._**

"Taiga." Juri softly said as he tried to wake him up again. "I need to go get ready for work."

Taiga sat up, meeting Juri's eyes, he smiled at him Eyes still half open but shining anyways.

"Good morning to you, too." Juri said as he got off the bed. "I'll change your bandages after I take a bath. Okay?"

Taiga nodded. Stretching up his arms while yawning before he got off of Juri’s bed.

Taiga indeed was strange but Juri thought of himself as strange as well. Who in the right mind would take in a man that seemed to be right around his age, get clothes for him from a friend, and let him even invade his personal space? Maybe they were meant to have met each other, both strange people that they are.

Juri got out of his room, fully dressed for work and Taiga was seated at the sofa. Everything they needed to clean Taiga's wounds and change his bandages were already at the table.

"Taiga," Juri spoke when he was done changing Taiga's bandages.”It’s okay if I call you like that, right?” 

Taiga nodded with a smile on his face.

"Some of my friends will be coming later. Kouchi needs to check on your wounds, he's a doctor. And Jesse, well, he will bring some clothes for you. They might stay for dinner."

Taiga's hands were shaking and he dropped the first aid kit on the floor. He immediately picked up everything and placed them back inside the kit.

Juri helped him up and sat him on the sofa. "Taiga." He held his hands. "Don't be scared. I won't leave you with them, they won't chase you out of here. I won't let them." Juri raised Taiga's chin a little so they could see eye to eye. "Wait for me here later, okay? You're not going anywhere, right?"

Taiga nodded. Worry painted his face and he gripped on Juri’s hand a little tighter before letting go.

"I'll be back. I'll try to go back earlier than yesterday."

Taiga followed him to the doorway and waved his open palm goodbye as Juri went out of the apartment.

At work, Juri saved everything in his flash drive that he might need in case he needed to make last minute layout changes over the weekend. He talked to his supervisor about not being able to report to the office on weekends but he would be willing to work at home in case they needed him too. His supervisor could not believe what he had just heard and asked him to say it again, for the first time in the three years that Juri has worked for them as a layout artist this was the first time that he said these things. His supervisor simply laughed it off, said yes, and thanked him for his hard work.

Overhearing the conversation, Shintarou rolled his chair over at Juri’s table. “Hey, what was that about?”

Juri shook his head. “Nothing. I just, you know, haven’t been spending much time at my apartment for the past three years.”

“I know. It’s because you’re alone there, right?” Shintarou’s phone rang, it was a missed call from Jesse. “Jesse’s outside. Are you ready to clock out yet?”

“Of course, you’re coming along too.” Juri said as he packed up his things. “Tell him we’re picking up Kouchi at the hospital too and prepare yourselves for an extra bitchy Kouchi tonight as he worked another 48-hour shift.”

“Why don’t we just leave him behind?” Shintarou said as he typed in a message to Jesse.

“Are you kidding me? He lives right above my apartment, he could come murder us if we leave him behind.”

* * *

Everyone was quiet on the ride home, afraid to get slammed by Kouchi again. Kouchi was nursing such a bad headache the little noises ticked him off. Shintarou helped Jesse carry some of the boxes he brought with him.

“I asked for some clothes, Jesse. Not a whole closet.” Juri said as they walked to his door.

“Just be thankful!” Jesse retorted. “I get too much free stuff because of my pretty face and you guys are lucky I share them with you.” He laughed out loud along with Shintarou.

“Stop it, please!” Kouchi said as he massaged his temples. "God."

Juri opened the door to his apartment and was greeted by Taiga by the corridor, a smile on his face as he waved hello. Taiga put down his hand and his smile faded when all the others entered the door behind Juri.

Taiga followed behind Juri as they walked inside the apartment to the kitchen, holding on to Juri's shirt. Shintarou and Jesse put down the boxes in the guest room and Kouchi sat down on the chair at the dining table.

“Here, put this in the rice cooker but wipe the bottom first.” Juri said as he handed the pot of rice to Taiga. “You guys have to settle for just chicken teriyaki tonight. I haven’t been to the grocery yet.”

“Anything you cook will be delicious.” Shintarou said as he and Jesse took seats around the dining table too.

All their eyes were on Taiga while Taiga was also keeping his eyes on them as he stood beside Juri, gripping on Juri’s shirt. The whole room was silent except for the sound of Juri chopping ingredients. Every time Juri moved, Taiga went with him, his eyes still on the three other people seated around the dining table.

“Juri.” Jesse broke the silence. “Your…. Uhm…. friend?” He looked over at Shintarou who gave him a thumbs up before he continued. “Your friend is sort of scaring me.”

“Yeah, well, you’re scaring him as well so I guess that makes you even, right?” Juri said as he mixed the chicken with the sauce that he made. “Taiga. Go get the serving plate and transfer the rice there, it’s in that drawer.”

“Oh so that was his name?” Kouchi asked.

“He answers to it, so maybe.” Juri answered him while transferring the teriyaki from the pot he was cooking it on a serving plate.

Taiga did as Juri instructed him to and went back to his side. Juri served the chicken teriyaki before taking a seat with Taiga beside him, still a little tense compared to how he was yesterday when it was just them. The other three introduced themselves but still there was no change in Taiga’s expressionless face, not even when Jesse threw in a gag in the conversation.

“You guys can handle cleaning up the three of you, right?” Kouchi said when they ate up all the food served on the table. “I’m going to check on Taiga’s wounds. It’s alright if we do it in the guest room, right?”

Taiga tugged in Juri’s shirt.

“He treated your wounds the first night. It’s okay, you’re still in the house anyway.”

Taiga was still hesitant but Juri simply patted his head and gently pulled off his shirt from Taiga's grip. Taiga took small steps but still followed Kouchi to the guestroom to have his wounds checked and treated.

Shintarou and Jesse stood at each side of Juri as he washed the dishes. Juri was acting very nonchalant about things, as though this was something that normally happened to anyone.

“Juri, do you even know anything about him?” Jesse asked in a low voice to make sure no one else but the three of them could hear him. “You can’t just take in someone you found at the park without identification. Someone might be looking for him and could get you in trouble.”

“He is not part of the reported missing person as of earlier today.” Juri said.

“Oh so that’s why you were checking missing person reports earlier at the office.” Shintarou remarked. “But seriously, Juri. What do you plan on doing?”

Juri shook his head. “He doesn’t want to leave, he doesn’t talk, not even to me. I think he didn’t eat the whole day I’m gone again and nothing appears to be missing so… I don’t know. He was scared last night when I mentioned taking him home, he was scared when I said people were coming over tonight and well you saw how he reacted with all of you here.”

Shintarou and Jesse helped Juri place everything they used over dinner back to the drawers they belonged to. Having visited Juri's place too many times they knew where everything pretty much belonged to.

Juri cleared his throat. “I’ll let him stay maybe until his wounds heal or when he finally talks.”

The three of them waited for Kouchi and Taiga to come out of the guest room in the living room, watching a variety show. When Kouchi went out of the bedroom, Shintarou scooted over to make space between him and Jesse for Kouchi to sit on. Kouchi leaned back and let his head rest on the back rest of the sofa. Taiga sat on the floor, in front of Juri getting in between his legs. Taiga no longer had bandages on his head and his features were even more defined now that you could see his whole face.

“He doesn’t need the bandages anymore, as long as he doesn’t leave the house. Bandage him up if the wounds are not fully healed yet and he wants to come out.” Kouchi said as he fixed his things in his bag. “I’m tired so I’ll go back to my apartment now.”

“Car’s here. Let’s go, Shin!” Jesse stood up, taking the glasses they used back to the kitchen to wash them up before leaving.

Juri and Taiga saw everyone off by the doorway, Taiga holding Juri’s shirt and still expressionless.

“You don’t have to be scared of them.” Juri said as they walked back inside the apartment. “They’re my friends and they like coming over here saying I cook better than they can. So, if you’re staying you’d have to get used to them. No one else apart from them will come over, though. I have a small circle.” Juri said as they walked the short hall to his bedroom.

They stopped in front of Juri’s bedroom door. Juri waited for a response from Taiga who was biting down on his lower lip. Taiga looked hesitant but nodded his head nonetheless.

“Oh, I’m not going anywhere this weekend so I might stay here or go out to do the grocery.”

Taiga listened intently to Juri.

“Don’t sleep at the foot of my bed again, alright? I might accidentally kick and hurt you in my sleep. You have your own bed in the guest room anyway.”

Taiga pouted and Juri chuckled at how adorable he looked.

“Let’s go get you to bed.”


	3. slowly getting used to having you around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juri swept away some strands of Taiga’s hair and traced the details of his face, Taiga smiled at his touch and moved closer to him, holding onto Juri’s arm with one hand.

Juri got out of his room, still a little groggy and wanting to sleep in. He found Taiga shuffling around the living room with a confused look on his face, opening up cabinets one after another as though he was in search of something. On the sofa was the laundry that was hanging on the balcony yesterday.

“Taiga,” He called his attention. “Are you looking for the iron?”

Taiga nodded.

“Come here.” Juri walked towards the doorway and opened a cabinet. “You can find something you need for the laundry and stuff here.” Juri carried the ironing board and the iron to the living room and set it up for Taiga. “Do you need help?”

Taiga shook his head.

“I’ll go get breakfast ready then.”

Juri made pancakes for the two of them and ate when Taiga was finished ironing Juri’s work clothes. Taiga followed behind Juri as he showed him where to put the blankets, towels, and clothes in case Taiga decides to do things on his own again. Juri took one of his old sketchbooks from a drawer near the television and started drawing a replica of the drawers in the living room. Taiga peeked at what Juri was doing and stretched out his hands in front of Juri.

“You want the sketchpad?”

Taiga nodded enthusiastically with a smile on his face. Juri handed him the sketchpad and he started drawing the cabinets in the living room. It was way better than Juri's drawing and looked almost exactly the same.

“Could you draw the other cabinets in the different rooms as well?”

Taiga nodded. They moved around the rooms in Juri’s apartment: the kitchen, the cabinet by the doorway, the bathroom, Juri’s room, and the guest room. Taiga drew an exact replica of the cabinets and when he was done they went back to sitting at the sofa. Juri took the sketchpad from Taiga and started writing things on each page.

“There,” Juri showed the sketchpad to Taiga. “So you wouldn’t have a hard time looking for anything when I’m not around."

Taiga flipped through the pages and parted his lips a little, but still no sound came out. He closed the notebook and gave Juri a grateful smile. Juri smiled back at him and patted his head.

“Let’s go sort out those clothes Jesse gave you.”

The two of them opened up the boxes in the guest room. Two out of five shoes Jesse gave them were a fit for Taiga and since the sizes of the clothes varied there were some that were a good fit for Taiga and some that were a little oversized but were still wearable at home. Juri arranged Taiga’s clothes in the cabinet separating them between those he could wear outside and those he should wear only at home because they were too big.

“Let’s get you cleaned up so your wounds won’t get infected.”

Taiga nodded and followed Juri into the bathroom. It was the same thing that happened before, Taiga played around in the water and Juri washed his hair for him, careful not to hit the wound right on Taiga’s forehead. When he was all cleaned up, Juri took Taiga to the guest bedroom and told him to get himself dressed as he needed to take a bath too.

Juri was soaking in the bathtub when the door opened, Taiga was peeked from the outside before going inside. Juri has been living alone for too long that he doesn’t bother locking doors to the bathroom or his bedroom. Taiga was wearing a half sleeved white shirt and black sweatpants, he sat at the edge of the bathtub.

“Taiga, go and wait for me in the living room, okay?”

Taiga nodded and went out of the bathroom. After getting himself dressed, Juri looked around in his room if he had a face mask. Taiga was seated at the sofa when he came out of his room, Juri took the first aid kit before sitting next to Taiga.

“We have to bandage up your wounds for now. I’m taking you with me to the supermarket.”

Taiga was worried and looked down, he scooted over to the other end of the sofa to get away from Juri. Juri moved closer to him but Taiga avoided his gaze.

“We need to buy some things and also toiletries for you to use. You can wear a hoodie over your shirt and this,” Juri handed Taiga a face mask. “So half your face will basically be covered up, it’ll be hard to recognize you.”

Taiga hesitantly took the mask from Juri’s hand. He lifted his head up, worry painted all over his face but Juri gave him a reassuring smile.

“I’ll be with you the whole time. Just don’t stray away too much from me, okay?”

Taiga was still hesitant but nodded yes to Juri and let him bandage up his wounds. Thinking he wasn't really in any position to trouble Juri further, he would just have to go with him outside. Juri put a black hoodie on Taiga and before going out of the apartment he placed a fisherman’s cap over Taiga’s head.

Juri chuckled. “Your blond hair might stand out too much.” Juri wore his black cap. “I can’t really see your face right now but I’m pretty sure you’re worried about this. Trust me, we’re just going to the supermarket then back here.”

Taiga was holding on to Juri’s jacket as they walked in the hallway, he was just one step behind Juri. Juri decided to take his car instead of them commuting as Taiga was already hesitant about going with him to the supermarket. He doubts Taiga would be comfortable taking public transportation. On their way, Taiga kept his head down and kept fiddling his fingers together.

Juri pulled over at the parking lot. “Relax.” He took Taiga’s hands in his and Taiga looked up, eyes still worried.

Inside the supermarket, Taiga walked by Juri’s side while holding on to his jacket. Taiga moves back in order not to hit other people while walking. They first went to the toiletries section.

“Choose whatever you’re comfortable with.” Juri gently took off Taiga’s hand from his jacket. “You don’t need to hold on to me. Just don’t walk too far from me, okay?”

Taiga was just staring at the variety of toiletries in front of him, not choosing any even when Juri was done getting his. He was lost at what or how to choose these things.

“Is it alright if I choose for you instead?”

Taiga nodded and stood beside their cart as Juri gathered things for him: Juri chose cucumber and aloe vera scents for Taiga, just to have a difference from his own. He got a tub of aloe vera gel as well so Taiga could use it when his wounds are fully healed so they won’t leave scars all over his arm and the one on his forehead as well. 

They went to the vegetable section next.

“Don’t be shy, get whatever you want.” Juri handed him a bag. “Fill this up with whatever you want.”

Taiga took the bag and nodded. Right next to them were the cherry tomatoes and Taiga filled the bag Juri gave him with it. 

Juri couldn’t help but laugh when Taiga placed the bag in the cart. “Would you like another bag for bigger tomatoes?”

Taiga’s eyes lit up, compared to his worried eyes earlier this was a sight that Juri much rather preferred seeing. Juri handed him another bag as they went closer to the tomatoes. Taiga chose them carefully before putting them in their cart.

“Maybe get a few more. I’ll make stuffed tomatoes for lunch later.”

Taiga nodded and did as he was told, he filled another bag with tomatoes. They went to the meat and fish section last, Taiga’s mood finally took a good turn while they were at the vegetable section and was not holding on too much to Juri’s jacket. Taiga still kept close to him while still being conscious of other people. At the cashier, Juri’s cart had almost twice as many things on it than he normally bought but he could afford paying for two people. The only reason he has kept up with his job even though it’s very draining was the handsome amount of money he sees in his paycheck twice a month. Working there for three years and having a perfect attendance earned him a huge pay increase this year and maybe it came at just the right time.

* * *

Back at Juri’s apartment, Taiga helped out unpacking the stuff they bought. Juri instructed him where to put what and he happily obliged. While taking a rest for a while Juri checked stuffed tomato recipes and how to make them online before he got started. Taiga followed him and waited for Juri to ask him to do anything but since it was Juri’s first time making stuffed tomatoes he was too focused on following the recipe and procedure to take notice of anything else. They waited at the living room for the stuffed tomatoes to bake as it was too hot in the kitchen. Juri sat at the sofa while Taiga sat down on the carpeted floor just a few centimeters away from Juri’s legs.

“There are some sketch pads and art supplies in the drawer on the left side of the television. You can use them if you want to.”

Taiga nodded and got up to get a sketchpad and pencils from the drawer. Taiga started drawing as Juri checked on the stuffed tomatoes. When they were all cooked, Juri placed them all in a tray and got two spoons. At the mere sight of the stuffed tomatoes on the center table Taiga’s face lit up and a smile spread on his face. Juri couldn’t help but pat him on the head as he was so adorably happy while they ate. Juri might have made a little too much as they had some leftovers, they kept it at the center table as Taiga sometimes still took bites while drawing.

Juri received a message from work asking him to work on changing a few layouts, he got his laptop from his room and started working on the changes at their living room. Both Juri and Taiga were silent as they minded their own business, the only sound surrounding them came from the television where a movie was playing. Juri did not feel so lonely working at home since Taiga was there, he was not talking but his presence alone makes Juri feel at ease.

Taiga moved from his end of the table towards where Juri was working and tugged on the sleeves of his shirt. Catching Juri’s attention, Taiga showed him his drawing.

“Is that me?”

Taiga nodded and smiled proudly. He drew how Juri looked while he was cooking meals and underneath it were the words ‘Thank you. Your cooking is really delicious!’

“Then you should probably eat more.” Juri ruffled Taiga’s hair.

The doorbell rang. The smile from Taiga’s face disappeared again.

“It’s probably just one of my friends.” Juri stood up to answer the door.

“Yo!” Kouchi said as he got inside. “It’s your rest day so you probably cooked something and I am starving.” He made his way to the living room. “Hey there, Taiga.”

Taiga slid to the other side of the living room, away from where Kouchi sat down. Juri sat down on the floor and continued working on his layout.

“Oh good, stuffed tomatoes.” Kouchi was going to reach for one when Juri pushed the tray over to Taiga.

“Not those. You’d have to wait for your food until I’m done with this layout.”

The doorbell rang again.

“Oh god!” Juri grunted. He moved his stuff as well as Taiga’s until the other end of the table. “Go open it, Kouchi. That’s probably those two rowdy kids.”

Kouchi got up to open the door.

Juri squeezed Taiga’s hand. “I’m sorry about this.”

Taiga shook his head and held on to Juri’s hand with both of his before going back to drawing.

“I bought groceries!” Jesse proudly said as he entered the room.

Shintarou and Kouchi dropped off the bags of grocery Jesse bought. Putting the meat inside Juri’s refrigerator before all of them gathered at the living room.

“I can’t catch a break with you guys, can’t I?” Juri complained without taking his eyes off of his laptop. “But as I told Kouchi, you would all have to wait for me to finish this layout.”

They streamed a movie on the television as they ate the snacks that Jesse brought with him. No one else tried to reach for the stuffed tomatoes after Juri swatted Shintarou’s hand and shoved the tray closer to Taiga, away from everyone else. Juri placed back his laptop in his room and went to the kitchen to check what Jesse bought, it was enough to feed them twice but knowing how much Shintarou could eat Juri thought it was probably just enough.

“Do you like hot pot?” Juri asked as he cleaned the vegetables and glanced back at Taiga who had his feet up on the chair and Taiga nodded. “I’m never letting Shintaro overhear when I have a rest day again.”

Taiga stood up and tugged on Juri’s shirt. He tilted his head to the side and smiled at Juri. Juri caressed Taiga’s hair.

“If I don’t get a move on at this those guys over there might throw a protest already. Help me prepare the dishes and stuff we need. Take them to the living room. Once they start watching movies, they won’t stop for anything other than food.”

* * *

Before they knew it, it got pretty late in the night. Kouchi went up to his apartment after helping Juri clean up everything they used for the hotpot. Shintarou and Jesse were both staying the night and Juri told them to use the guest room and Taiga would be sleeping in Juri’s room with him for the night.

Juri turned off the lights once Taiga was tucked in bed. The bed shifted a little as Juri slipped in, leaving some distance between him and Taiga. Taiga snuggled close to him, seeing his face up close with the faint light that came in through the window made Juri’s heartbeat uneven. Taiga’s beauty took his breath away and it was taking all his self control not to pull him in for a hug. He felt Taiga’s even breath on his skin and he wondered where their boundaries lied, they'd even seen each other naked at this point and none of them flinched even with the small distance between them.

Juri swept away some strands of Taiga’s hair and traced the details of his face, Taiga smiled at his touch and moved closer to him, holding onto Juri’s arm with one hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for taking time to read this. It warms my heart that someone out there took time to read my work. I am open to suggestions and comments. A kudos would make me smile knowing that someone out there liked what I put out :)
> 
> If you want to talk or have any suggestions or requests hit me up at Twitter @geeelatinnn
> 
> If you'd like to help a struggling writer out, you can buy me coffee https://ko-fi.com/geeelatinnn it will be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!


	4. Sing Me a Lullaby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A month has passed since Taiga started living at Juri’s apartment. Juri has gotten used to Taiga and Taiga seems to have gotten used to living in Juri’s apartment as well, he was already familiar with where everything was and Juri even sometimes comes home and a bath has been ready for him to his liking. There wasn’t much significant change in his utilities bills as Taiga did not watch television or used too much electronics around the house when he’s not around. If Juri had a complaint it would only be the fact that Taiga still hasn’t said a word yet, not even laughing with whatever Jesse does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have not updated this one as much as I update my Hokushime but honestly this one has more drafts than my other works, I'm just really having a hard time how I should end this so I haven't been adding chapters that often.
> 
> I hope you enjoy~

A month has passed since Taiga started living at Juri’s apartment. Juri has gotten used to Taiga and Taiga seems to have gotten used to living in Juri’s apartment as well, he was already familiar with where everything was and Juri even sometimes comes home and a bath has been ready for him to his liking. There wasn’t much significant change in his utilities bills as Taiga did not watch television or used too much electronics around the house when he’s not around. If Juri had a complaint it would only be the fact that Taiga still hasn’t said a word yet, not even laughing with whatever Jesse does.

Kouchi checked on Taiga’s wounds weekly even after they have fully healed. It has been a routine for Juri to rub aloe vera over Taiga’s scars before they went to bed. Juri noticed how Taiga’s attention was fully concentrated on the television when they were watching Detective Conan and figured he should buy Taiga the manga so he’d have something to do to pass the time. Jesse brought in some more clothes he got for free that were Taiga’s size. Shintarou brought over tomatoes he got from a friend who owned a farm from time to time trying to get closer to Taiga. Still, Taiga spoke with no one, but at least he was not so stiff to be around the other three anymore.

Juri often took some work at home with him so he could come home early now that someone was waiting for him at home. Taiga was not picky with what Juri cooks, he eats them all up and helps with the dishes too. Even though he doesn’t talk, Taiga listens intently when Juri talks about his day, his plans, or whatever that pops in his mind. They spend lazy weekends watching movies, sometimes Taiga would sit on the floor and lean his head on Juri’s leg then Juri will subconsciously find himself playing with Taiga’s hair.

There were still days that Juri would wake up with Taiga at the foot of his bed and also days when Taiga would end up waking him up for work. Taiga sometimes laid out clothes for him or made coffee in the morning, surprisingly when Kouchi taught him once, Taiga made delicious coffee the morning after. Taiga even makes one for Shintarou too that Juri sometimes complains to Shintarou that he should never have asked Taiga to give him coffee too, Kouchi passes by their apartment before work as well to get coffee. Juri was already joking about charging them fees soon.

* * *

The writers at Juri’s work were frantic and in panic. Everyone was moving at a faster phase than usual even though they were already halfway done with next week’s issue.

“What’s happening?” Juri asked Shintarou.

Shintarou was transferring files from his memory cards to his desktop. “We need to overhaul the whole magazine release for next week.”

“Today?!” Juri said in shock. “It’s already Wednesday, we need it to be sent to the printing press by Friday if we want to make it to Monday release.” Juri powered up his own desktop.

“Exactly! That’s why everyone’s frantic.” Shintarou said as he fixed his camera inside its bag. “Good luck with the layout, bro. I’m going out to take some pictures. This card has some of the pictures you could use for the articles that were already re-done.”

Juri had to stay at work for as late as 10pm he had food delivered there to take home to Taiga as he was too tired to cook for him when he came home. Even at home Juri had to work, Taiga stayed with him at the living room as he worked through the night. When he fell asleep in the living room, Taiga put a blanket around him. This went on for two days.

Taiga woke him up in time to take a shower before work, while he was showering Taiga fixed his things inside his bag. Juri could see that Taiga was getting worried Friday morning but he was in such a hurry he could not even talk for two minutes and simply pats Taiga’s head before he left.

Juri was able to finish his end of the layout and got it approved just in the nick of time but he still came home late Friday night. He put down Taiga’s dinner on the center table and collapsed down on the sofa, head leaning back and hand covering his eyes. Taiga turned off the lights leaving only the light from the kitchen on since it was faint enough at the living room and sat at the floor and tugged on Juri’s sleeves.

“I don’t really have the energy to play right now, Taiga. Please.” Juri shrugged him off. “Sorry.” He said, feeling a little guilty for being harsh.

Taiga pulled Juri up a little so he could sit on the sofa and let Juri's head rest on his lap, folding Juri’s arm together and covering his eyes with his hand instead.

“Taiga. What are you doing?”

Taiga removed his hand over Juri’s eyes and put it over Juri’s mouth, it was his way of telling him not to talk. Taiga caressed Juri’s hair and started singing a lullaby. This was the first time Juri has heard his voice ever since that day at the park when he first took him in. It sent shivers down his spine, Taiga’s voice was angelic to say the least, it made his heart beat go uneven but gradually hearing it longer made him relaxed. 

Juri wanted to open his mouth to say something but he didn’t want to ruin a perfectly good melody that Taiga was producing. Juri wanted to look at him but he was so damn tired he couldn’t even open his eyes. Slowly, without even realizing it, Juri has drifted off to sleep.

Juri woke up and it was already bright outside. He could not remember how he got to his room, all he remembers from last night was Taiga singing him a lullaby to sleep. When he came out of his room Taiga was not at the living room. He wasn’t in his room, the balcony, or the kitchen either. Finally he found him in the bathroom, replacing their empty bottles of soap and shampoo with new ones and throwing the empty bottles at the trash bin. 

Juri walked over to him and hugged him tightly, he embraced him as though they have not seen each other in years. Maybe he hugged him a little too tightly as Taiga began coughing and that was his cue to release him.

“Good morning, Taiga.” Juri still had his arms over Taiga’s shoulder, moving back enough that they see face to face. Taiga smiled at him and Juri couldn’t hold back his laugh. “You could sing an angelic lullaby but not utter a simple good morning?”

Taiga’s face flushed and he covered his face with his hands while shaking his head.

Juri laughed and pulled him closer, not too tight this time, and caressed Taiga’s head. “It’s okay. Take your time. I’ve been waiting for over a month now but I won’t rush you. Talk when you want to.”

Taiga placed his hand on Juri’s chest, feeling his heartbeat. He nodded his head.

“Let’s go make brunch. You must be starving as it’s already 10am. Why didn’t you wake me up?” Juri pulled away.

Taiga was bumping his index fingers together.

“Let’s go.” Juri held Taiga’s hand as they walked to the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit me up at twitter @geeelatinnn if you want to talk about this or something.


	5. who owns who

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tears streamed down Juri's eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A certain someone finally shows up...not in the way we expect him to.

It was their monthly grocery day and Taiga was not as stiff about it as he was before. Sure he did still keep his face hidden behind a mask that only showed his eyes and forehead and he was still stuck near Juri enough they bump into each other every time Juri suddenly stops. But Taiga was at least a little different now, he remembered the things around the house enough that he could help Juri pick them off of the shelves which made them do the grocery faster.

When they reached the parking lot Taiga suddenly pulled hard on Juri’s jacket. Juri looked back at Taiga who appeared to be frozen, fear reflected in his eyes. Juri followed Taiga's gaze, there standing a few steps away from them was a slender man clad in a ridiculous combination of color, black hair, and a little taller than Juri.

"Hello, Taiga." The man spoke.

Taiga gripped on Juri's jacket with both his hands and hid behind Juri. Taiga's hands were shaking. Juri opened the passenger door and let Taiga in the car.

"I'm sorry but I don't think Taiga is in the right state to talk right now." Juri said, standing up straight.

The man scoffed. "And on what authority would you know what Taiga would want and not want?" He took out a business card from his coat pocket and handed it to Juri. "I have a feeling we'll be meeting each other soon, Tanaka Juri." Juri's name rolled out of the man's lips with spite. 

Juri read the name on the business card, Matsumura Hokuto. He has never heard of the name before today.

The man waved goodbye to Taiga before leaving. Juri put their bags in the backseat of the car. Taiga had his feet up on the seat, his face buried between his thighs, and his body was shivering from fear. Taiga walked quickly to their apartment, carrying some bags with him. Taiga placed down the bags he was carrying in the kitchen and proceeded to his room. Juri gave him some time on his own as he organized their grocery.

Juri knocked on the door before entering. Taiga was at the corner of the bed, curled up, hugging his legs. Juri sat on the bed and tried to hold Taiga but for the first time Taiga flinched away from his hand.

* * *

"Juri, you're suspended from work effective immediately." His supervisor sprang on him Monday morning. "Management didn't tell me why. Go to the conference room first before you go home."

Juri did as he was told. There inside the conference room was Matsumura Hokuto. Juri closed the door behind him before taking a seat.

"Was this your doing?"

Hokuto grinned. "You catch on fast. Do you know why I did it?"

"You want Taiga back." Juri kept a straight face.

Hokuto clapped his hands. "You can have your job back or better yet a normal life because I already got you blacklisted everywhere… you can go back to normal if you give Taiga back to me."

"I don't make that decision. It's Taiga that doesn't want to leave."

Hokuto scoffed. "We'll see." He leaned back on the chair he was seating on. "I have a feeling he'll come back to me soon."

* * *

Juri went back to his apartment. He crumpled his suspension notice and threw it on the center table before collapsing down on the sofa. Taiga went out of his room and sat down beside Juri, Taiga's face was painted with worry. He wanted to ask Juri what was wrong but he somehow had an idea. Taiga simply sat on the floor, looking at Juri, waiting for him to say something.

Juri debated within himself if he should tell Taiga about what happened or not but he didn't want to burden him. Juri caressed Taiga's face and Taiga leaned in on his hand.

"I'll just take a quick shower, okay?" Juri stood up and went to the bathroom.

Taiga noticed the crumpled piece of paper on the table. He took it and read what was written, eyes narrowing and knowing at once who was probably behind this. When Juri was done with his shower he called out for Taiga, looking for him all over the apartment but he was nowhere to be found.

* * *

"Sir, Taiga's back." His doorman told Hokuto as soon as he arrived home.

Hokuto proceeded to his study room where he knew Taiga would be waiting for him. And there he was, standing by Hokuto's chair. Hokuto walked towards Taiga.

Hokuto cupped Taiga's face with his hands. "Why does your eyes look empty, Taiga? They used to be bright and full of hope. They used to be happy at the mere sight of me." Hokuto sat down on his chair and pulled on Taiga so he would fall on his lap. He held Taiga by his chin. "I'm going to let anybody else have you, Taiga." He pulled him in and kissed his lips but Taiga kept still.

Hokuto pushed him off, Taiga falling down on the floor with a loud thud. Good thing he held out his hands fast enough, otherwise Taiga would have fallen to the floor face first.

Hokuto held him by his chin and made Taiga look up. "You'll come around. Remember who owns you."

* * *

Juri kept all the lights in his apartment turned on waiting for Taiga to come back. His phone rang and when he picked it up it was his boss.

"Juri, your suspension has been lifted. You may start reporting to work starting tomorrow."

Tears streamed down Juri's eyes.


	6. A Dull Lifeless Shell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "But I don't have VIP patients. I'm only in my second year of residency here." Kouchi checked his emails on his desktop. "There aren't any emails about it either."
> 
> The head nurse closed the door and stood by Kouchi's desk. "Dr. Kouchi, you have so much to learn. This is a very special request. One that is not, and will never have, any documentation. If you could please come with me now or else will be picked up here in a not so nice way by men in black suits."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... this is not a happy chapter. You may already be able to tell judging by the chapter title alone. I hope I was able to execute the scenes well, I feel like I cramped too many things happening in 2.5k words.
> 
> I hope you enjoy what comes in this chapter.

Juri filed a request to work from home for a month, he wanted to be at the apartment in case Taiga comes back. Hoping every day for the past two weeks that he’ll wake up to his bright eyes again and fall asleep assured that Taiga was right in the next bedroom. He buried himself with every work he received, wanting to pour all his attention on something so he won’t think of Taiga too much. It was a challenge, every corner of his apartment reminded him of Taiga: the stack of detective Conan manga by the side of the television, the cucumber scent toiletries in the bathroom, and the tomatoes in the refrigerator which were starting to rot. Every nook and cranny of his apartment reminded him of Taiga.

Juri’s been feeding on instant noodles and food deliveries as he could not step in the kitchen without thinking about cooking for both him and Taiga. He doesn’t open the door for his friends and does not even answer their calls at all. No one has seen Juri ever since Taiga left his apartment. His apartment was a mess of dust and food containers all over his living room, that’s where he spent all his days at, the living room. He wanted to be where Taiga would be able to easily see him once he walks inside the apartment.

There were days when he curled up at Taiga’s bed and covered himself with the blankets as it still smelled a little like Taiga and just broke down in tears, falling asleep like that and waking up the next day with swollen eyes. Juri did not expect that Taiga being gone would have this much effect on him, especially since it was not really a long time since he had met Taiga. 

It got even worse when he flipped through the sketch pads Taiga drew in, most of it was Juri doing random household chores, Juri lazing around in the sofa, Juri working on his laptop, and what really got to him was the drawings of the two of them: of Taiga between his legs while watching movies with the rest, Taiga curled up on the foot of his bed, Taiga’s bathtime, their dinner, and everything else.

* * *

“Taiga.” Hokuto walked inside Taiga’s room. 

There in the middle of his white canopy bed lies a still Taiga, staring up at the ceiling, eyes completely dried of life. Taiga shifted to the left side of the bed when Hokuto sat down beside him.

“Are you unwell? Do you need me to call the doctor?” Hokuto was worried about him.

Taiga shook his head, a doctor wouldn’t really be able to help him right now. Taiga has not left his room ever since he came back. The housekeepers and Hokuto’s butler took turns taking food in his room. There were days when Hokuto tried eating with Taiga in his bedroom but Taiga just sat there, looking out the window and not touching his food until Hokuto just stood up and left him alone to give him some space. Sometimes, Taiga doesn’t touch his food at all.

“The housekeeper said you didn’t eat last night.” Hokuto’s voice was full of concern. “I got people looking for you, I thought I lost you forever. I didn’t get the public involved because you might not like that so I never reported you as a missing person. But now, you’re here, back home… You came back.”

Taiga closed his eyes and gripped on his blanket. Tears were starting to roll down his eyes and he tried not to make it obvious.  _ This is not my home,  _ he thought to himself.

“I’ll get them to bring food here for you. You need to eat, Taiga.” Hokuto pulled Taiga to make him face him. He wiped the tears from Taiga’s face. “Your eyes look so dull, Taiga. What happened to you when you were gone?” Hokuto cupped his face and gently caressed his cheeks with his thumb. “I want to see your bright and shining eyes again, Taiga. Know that I’m here for you, okay? You can call me anytime, even if I’m at work. Do you want me to stay today, I could stay and work here instead.”

Taiga shook his head. It wasn’t Hokuto’s presence that he wanted beside him. It wasn’t Hokuto’s arms he wanted around him. It wasn’t Hokuto’s voice he wanted to hear more than anything right now. But he tried, he really tried not to break down in full blown tears in front of Hokuto, afraid how the younger would react.

“I’ll try to come back early today, okay? Now that I know you’re here.” Hokuto planted a kiss on his forehead. “Rest, Taiga. You’re home now.”

  
  


* * *

Hokuto came into his study when he came home from work. There, Taiga was waiting for him, standing beside his chair, still staring blankly in space, eyes dull and face expressionless. Taiga didn’t even seem to notice that Hokuto was already standing in front of him as he was as still as a statue where he stood.

Hokuto caressed his face with both his hands. “What happened to you out there, Taiga?” His voice was shaking. “What can I do to make things better? To have you back?” His arms fell down on Taiga’s shoulders. “I just want you back.” Hokuto’s voice broke and he slowly sank down to the floor.

Taiga stood still, not even glancing at Hokuto. His hands were not clutching back no matter how hard Hokuto grips on them for support. It was as though he was just a shell, no ounce of soul left when he stepped inside Hokuto’s mansion once again.

"Taiga!" Hokuto shouted in desperation. Not knowing what to say. Not knowing what to do. Tears running down his face, body shivering. "Taiga! Please… please… talk…"

Hokuto pulled Taiga down until they were facing each other, leaning his forehead on Taiga's.

"Please." Hokuto begged but there was still nothing. Taiga merely looked into space, not flinching, not showing any change in expression at all no matter how many times Hokuto begged him. Not even now that he could feel Hokuto shaking.

* * *

"Dr. Kouchi. You're requested at the VIP room." The head nurse entered his room having the door slightly ajar.

"But I don't have VIP patients. I'm only in my second year of residency here." Kouchi checked his emails on his desktop. "There aren't any emails about it either."

The head nurse closed the door and stood by Kouchi's desk. "Dr. Kouchi, you have so much to learn. This is a very special request. One that is not, and will never have, any documentation. If you could please come with me now or else will be picked up here in a not so nice way by men in black suits."

"What?" Kouchi was dumbfounded. These sort of things only happen in movies and tv dramas, he never once thought he’d get to experience something like this in real life. And what’s more it was happening to his life.

"Just follow me." The head nurse grabbed him by the shoulder to make him get up from his seat.

Kouchi followed the head nurse. "But what about my scheduled patients?" Kouchi asked as the elevator doors closed.

"Management will take care of that. Do this well and you'll have a good life ahead, Dr. Kouchi."

“Why? Is this a very important person?”

The head nurse scoffed. “He owns 15% of this whole hospital. Is that important enough for you?”

The elevator doors opened and Kouchi walked behind the head nurse. He has never been to the VIP area of the hospital and somehow this place gave a totally different vibe than what he was used to, he felt like everything that happened in this floor remained undocumented. They entered a room and it looked like a receiving area, the nurse turned to open another door.

The head nurse opened the door to a private room and closed it once Kouchi was already inside. “Sorry for the wait, sir.”

“Oh, it’s fine.”

Kouchi’s eyes widened, he wasn’t expecting to see him here of all places. He wasn’t expecting to see him outside Juri’s apartment at all, it was an unusual sight for him. Taiga was seated beside a man he has never seen before and Taiga seemed… different. Not that he knew him that well, but somehow this person in front of him sent a different aura than the Taiga he encountered in Juri’s apartment. This Taiga’s eyes were dull and his face was even paler.

“Dr. Kouchi.” The head nurse called his attention.

“Ah, I’m sorry.” Kouchi scrambled in his coat pocket for his business card. “I’m Kouchi Yugo, a neuropsychologist.”

“Matsumura Hokuto.”

They exchanged business cards and Kouchi made a mental note to tell Juri about what happened today. Judging by Hokuto’s business card alone, he already felt the great distance between their social status. His business card was a mere piece of paper compared to Hokuto’s seemingly PVC card.

“Here are his medical records.” Hokuto handed him a file folder. “But, I’ll need them back at the end of your session and you can’t keep a copy of anything, not even today’s session. Please understand that this is a very special case.” Hokuto emphasized each word of his last sentence

Kouchi nodded as he took the folder, his hand was shaking a little. “Why me though?” He accidentally blurted out his thoughts.

“I was going to take him to his usual doctor but…” Hokuto glanced at Taiga. “He wrote your name when I told him about going to his doctor so I looked for you. Writing is the most I can get out of him, he seems to trust you so I guess I’ll wait outside while the two of you... talk hopefully.” Hokuto caressed Taiga’s hair and kissed the top of his head before leaving the room.

Kouchi and Taiga were left alone inside the room, seated opposite each other. Taiga pointed at Kouchi’s pen, Kouchi handed it to him along with a piece of notepad he kept in his coat for emergencies. Taiga’s hands were shaking, the longer Kouchi looked and observed him the more he thought how fragile Taiga was right now, it was as if one word could completely break him down. With his shaky hands Taiga was able to manage something, he pushed the paper over Kouchi.

“Juri.” Kouchi said in a low voice that only the two of them could hear. He figured this was why Taiga requested to see him, to talk about Juri behind Hokuto’s back. “I would want to say he’s doing good but honestly, I have not seen him for three weeks now. He doesn’t open the door for us. The only reason we still know he’s alive in there is because he still meets his deadlines.”

Worry painted Taiga’s face this time, eyes watering but he was fighting them back. Kouchi wrote things in his record and showed them to Taiga and received a nod from him. Kouchi wrote down that Taiga only nodded and shook his head as answers to questions and he wrote some random questions answerable by yes or no and explained that since it was the first meeting he wanted to break the ice first. It was all for show for Hokuto anyway so anything would do.

“I’ll try and check in on him again.” Kouchi said before there was a knock on the door. He waited until Taiga was able to compose himself before he stood up to open the door. “Take a seat, Mr. Matsumura. Taiga seems to be still adjusting to his environment again, he did not talk to me but at least he nods or shakes his head in response. Probably, he’s still accustoming himself to me too.”

“Is that so?” Hokuto reached for Taiga’s hand and held it. “I guess… I guess we’ll contact you again for his next check ups. But it will most probably be at our estate and not here. Taiga is not too comfortable going out.”

“I understand.”

Kouchi and the head nurse accompanied Hokuto and Taiga up until their car at the parking lot instead of the front entrance.

“Well, congratulations for securing your future, Dr. Kouchi.” The head nurse tapped Kouchi’s shoulder.

“I’m not quite sure about that.” Kouchi said as he went back inside the hospital.

“Taiga.” Hokuto reached for Taiga’s hand. “I moved the magazine photo shoot and the brand ambassador interview at our house for now so I wouldn’t have to leave you with the household help again. Is there anything you want?”

Taiga was looking out the window and shook his head without looking at Hokuto’s side.

* * *

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.” Hokuto said as he entered his study where Shintarou and Jesse were both waiting.

Seeing Taiga behind Hokuto was a shock to both of them that it took them a while before greeting back. Jesse nudged Shintarou’s shoulder. The two of them breathing again without even noticing they held their breaths.

“Ah, right.” Shintarou got one of his business cards. “Morimoto Shintaro.”

“Jesse.” Jesse said as they exchanged business cards with Hokuto.

After exchanging greetings and some small talk they proceeded to their official business. Shintarou was supposed to take pictures of Hokuto for their magazine feature on him and Jesse was called there as Hokuto’s clothing line venture needed a new ambassador. Shintarou glanced at Taiga from time to time as he took pictures, first of Hokuto alone and then of Hokuto and Jesse as he couldn’t refuse Hokuto’s request for this one. Shintarou thought back to all the times he saw Taiga with Juri and this wasn’t the Taiga he knew, this was a dull lifeless shell that had Taiga’s face. Shintarou and Jesse were exchanging glances, both of them trying to not let their worry be too obvious to Hokuto.

“Taiga was actually the one who recommended you.” Hokuto said as his maid served them with tea and biscuits. “You see, he doesn’t really talk and he rarely interacts with other people. I asked him as I was looking through model profiles who he would choose and he pointed at yours, Jesse. You are still open to discuss it with your manager, I can wait.”

“Thank you for considering me.” Jesse tried to talk as naturally as he can but Hokuto was too intimidating and Taiga distracted him too much he couldn’t form longer sentences.

Hokuto shook his head. “Taiga must have encountered you when he got lost for more than a month. He doesn’t warm up to people that well, it’s good that both of you and Shintarou knew each other as well.”

“Tokyo’s pretty small, right? You’d be surprised how many people are actually connected at some point.” Shintarou remarked. “If you’ll excuse us. I still need to report back to the office about today’s progress.”

“Ah, that’s right.” Hokuto nodded. “Sorry to have kept you for long. But if you can visit Taiga sometimes, our doors are open for you.”

* * *

“Shintarou, check in with Kouchi if he’s free tomorrow.” Jesse said as soon as they were inside his car service.

“Okay. But why?” Shintarou was typing a message for Kouchi.

“We’re going to Juri’s apartment. Even if we have to break the whole damn door.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for taking time to read this!
> 
> If you have any comments, suggestions, or maybe a request you can hit me up at:  
> twitter @geeelatinnn  
> curious cat https://curiouscat.qa/geeelatinnn  
> or you can leave a comment down below
> 
> A kudos warms my heart knowing that someone out there enjoyed reading my work.


	7. All I Ever Did

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Juri, you have to start thinking of yourself too.” Jesse was looking down on the floor. He took in deep breaths. “We don’t want to see you rot here like this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Violence

“Is this even legal?” Kouchi asked as they watched a carpenter try to figure out how they could take down Juri’s door.

“It’s not but we have no other choice.” Shintarou said.

The carpenter Jesse had brought with him was able to open up Juri’s door without breaking it down and Jesse instructed him to put it all back together. Entering Juri’s apartment, they could already see how much Juri hadn't cleaned as the floor was full of dust and honestly they could not figure out what kind of smell surrounded Juri’s apartment. It was as if they entered an apartment abandoned by its resident. There were even cobwebs at some parts of the apartment.

“Juri!” Jesse screamed as soon as he saw Juri’s passed out body on the floor, headphones on, and his eyes closed.

Kouchi ran towards Juri’s body and searched for his pulse. “He’s alive.” He faced Shintarou and Jesse. “He must have passed out from exhaustion.”

The three of them looked around: food packs, pet bottles, used cups, and various junk food packages were all over Juri’s living room. In his bedroom, clothes were all over the floor, the dresser opened with almost little to no clean clothes anymore. Even Taiga’s room was a mess of scattered sketch pads and an unmade bed.

Jesse carried Juri off of the floor and settled him on his bed, tucked him in nicely under the blanket and adjusted the air conditioning unit to the usual temperature that Juri liked. Juri shuffled on the bed but didn’t open his eyes. Jesse could see the dark circles under Juri’s eyes. Juri was already skinny to begin with but somehow he lost weight, Jesse almost felt like he wasn’t carrying a full grown adult but instead a child when he brought Juri to his room.

“How exhausted could he be to not wake up from Jesse’s voice?” Shintarou said as Jesse joined them again in the living room.

“Let’s take this as a chance to clean around here a little.” Kouchi said as he was getting some trash bags from where Juri usually stored them.

The three of them divided up the work cleaning up Juri’s apartment: Kouchi took care of the trash and vacuumed around the apartment, Jesse threw all the rotting food in Juri’s refrigerator and shopped online to replenish everything Juri was running low on around his house and scheduling it for delivery within the day while the three of them were there, and Shintarous tried to reduce the dirty laundry Juri has stocked so well on. It took them four hours to at least get Juri’s place to look a little decent, his door was already fixed, and they ordered take out food before they woke Juri up.

Kouchi removed Juri’s headphones. “Juri.” He shook him gently. “Juri, let’s get some food in your system.”

Juri slowly opened his eyes and sat up. “Kouchi. How did you get in?”

“We broke down your door and had it repaired again.”

Juri nodded as if it was nothing. “By we you mean the three of you? I’m sorry, I might not be able to cook for you guys. My apartment’s a mess.”

“Oh so you knew?” Kouchi tapped on his shoulder. “We took the liberty of cleaning up a little. Make the place liveable again.”

Kouchi half dragged Juri out of his room and sat him between Shintarou and Jesse. Juri was as lifeless as the Taiga they saw yesterday, both their eyes were dull. Juri ate along with them, although he was not speaking at all and not even reacting to what they were watching on the television.

“You look like shit, man.” Shintarou pointed out as Jesse cleaned up their food packages.

“Aw thanks, man.” Juri leaned back on the sofa and rested his head on the back rest.

“Let’s cut to the chase shall we.” Kouche cleared his throat. “There’s no other way to say this and we are not sure how this will affect the current you. But we saw Taiga yesterday. All of us but different places. He was with - ”

“Matsumura Hokuto.” Juri said.

The room fell silent. The other three looked at each other trying to pass the responsibility of continuing to one person.

Kouchi sighed in defeat. “He’s in as bad a shape as you are. He was…” Kouchi was searching for the right words.

“A shell without a soul.” Shintarou swooped in. “I don’t think he’ll be coming back anytime soon. That Matsumura Hokuto won’t let him, with the shit ton of security all over their house.”

“Juri, you have to start thinking of yourself too.” Jesse was looking down on the floor. He took in deep breaths. “We don’t want to see you rot here like this.”

“I just - ” Juri’s voice broke. “I can’t right now. I know, I know how different Matsumura Hokuto’s life is compared to mine and maybe he would be much better for Taiga. But now… I just… I just don’t want to let go of anything yet.”

“But, Juri,” Kouchi shifted in his seat so he would be directly looking at Juri on the sofa. “Don’t push us away and at least take a little bit more care about yourself.”

* * *

Hokuto decided to stay home the whole day so he could be with Taiga. He worked at his study with Taiga seated on the sofa, sketch pads and pencils in front of him but he wasn’t picking it up and continued staring in space. Once in a while Hokuto would curse, thump hard on his keyboard, and even throw things. Stress from his work was piling up, what with another new venture and the mistakes his subordinates made that lost them a hotel deal that he had to fix on his own yet again. No matter how loud he got, Taiga wasn’t flinching from his seat, seemingly unaffected by anything at all.

The moon was already out when Hokuto finished with everything in his update list. Hokuto settled his glasses on top of the center table near the sofa and laid down, resting his head on Taiga’s lap.

“Taiga,” Hokuto said while closing his eyes. “I’m so tired. One thing after another just keeps on coming lately. I’m still not used to this. I’m still not ready for all these responsibilities that came with being the company chairman. This was so much different than when I was just president of a certain department.”

Taiga was unresponsive staring blankly into space. He didn’t pay attention, nit even adjusting his position or Hokuto’s. He just sat there, the only sign he still had life in him was his breathing.

“God damn it, Taiga!” Hokuto stood up. “What the hell kind of reaction is that? Didn’t you see how stressed I was while I was working? Didn’t you think how exhausted I am? Why are you being so god damn unresponsive? You used to sing for me when this happened. But now? Now, what!?”

Hokuto grabbed Taiga by his shirt and forced him to stand up, gripping on his shirt tightly with shaking hands. Hokuto threw Taiga over and Taiga hit the floor with a loud thud.

“Sir.” One of their guards entered the room.

“Get out! Keep everyone out of here!” Hokuto shouted at him.

“I’m sorry, sir.” The guard closed the door again.

“What the hell, Taiga?” Hokuto grabbed Taiga by his shirt again so he could get up from the floor. “Why are you doing this to me? Have you forgotten who got you out of that shithole human experiment facility, huh?! It was me, I bought you from them. Lonely ass me who fell in love with you at first sight decided to buy you from them so you could be free.”

Hokuto pushed Taiga on the sofa. Still, Taiga was as dull as he could be.

“I gave you a home! We used to be happy. And then what? I lost my parents and only had you. I got chained to a fucking company I was not ready to manage on my own. The stress was eating me alive and what did you fucking do? You started to not talk at all! Not once, for the past two years! Two fucking years, Taiga!” Hokuto shouted as loudly as he could.

Hokuto shoved Taiga at the backrest of the sofa. Taiga was not even looking at him, he was still staring blankly into space.

“All I ever did was love you, Taiga. What happened to us? What happened to you?” Hokuto was in tears, he sank down on the floor, hand falling on Taiga’s lap. “Why won’t you fucking talk!”

Taiga lifted up his shirt and took it off of him. Hokuto raised up his head and his eyes widened at the sight of Taiga's wounds, some were freshly healed and there were some that left scars. A pang of pain suddenly hit Hokuto's head and flashes of memories came rushing to him: memories that he doesn't quite remember, memories of him physically hurting Taiga. The pain became unbearable and the study was filled with Hokuto's screams before he fell unconscious to the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for taking time to read this!
> 
> If you have any comments, suggestions, or maybe a request you can hit me up at:  
> twitter @geeelatinnn  
> curious cat https://curiouscat.qa/geeelatinnn  
> or you can leave a comment down below


	8. What I Longed to See

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taiga watched as Juri walked away, hoping with all his heart that he would turn around and run to steal him away. But Juri didn’t, he disappeared to the stairs of his apartment building, not even briefly looking back.

There was a knock on Kouchi's office door. The head nurse entered and behind her were three men in black suits. Kouchi let out a defeated sigh at the sight of the head nurse, this was not a good sign and he probably guessed this involved Hokuto again. Just when he thought he could have it easy this Saturday with fewer patients, it seems like his schedule would yet again be moved.

"You're being summoned."

"But what about my patients?"

"This is not up for discussion. Management would take care of it."

Kouchi sighed and followed the men in black suits. He was actually more worried something might have happened to Taiga more than the fact that he was being driven to a house he has never been in before. Kouchi was taken to a room and when the door was opened he was shocked at how big the room was, it was almost as big as Juri’s apartment. Maybe it was even more spacious than Juri’s place. The whole place was decorated with white furniture and there by the window, Taiga stood out above everything in his black hoodie and white sweatpants. Kouchi was escorted to the seat opposite of Taiga, who did not seem to acknowledge anyone coming in and simply looked out the window, feet up on the chair with his arms hugging his legs.

A man in a blue suit entered the room. “Good day, I’m Kikuchi Fuma.” 

Kouchi stood up and exchanged business cards with him. “Kouchi Yugo.”

“I’m Hokuto’s right-hand man in business and best friend outside of work. Please take a seat.” Fuma sat in the chair between Kouchi’s and Taiga’s. “I heard you were the only doctor Taiga’s comfortable enough interacting with. We need to know what happened yesterday, why Hokuto collapsed. Hokuto only remembers finishing his work yesterday and the next thing he knows he woke up in bed today. Taiga… he doesn’t speak when a lot of people are present so I’ll go back to Hokuto’s room first. Hokuto’s psych is in his room, we’ll wait for you there.” Fuma left Taiga and Kouchi alone in Taiga’s room.

Kouchi looked at Taiga and chuckled, trying to lighten up the atmosphere a little. “Did you steal Juri’s hoodie?”

Taiga did not respond but because of his pale skin it was easy to see that he flushed, probably from embarrassment of being found out.

“Good choice picking his favorite. That’s probably the one that smells most like him.”

Taiga’s ears were red and he buried his face on his knees.

Kouchi laughed, Taiga was adorably cute. “Ah, you’re interesting. So,” Kouchi pushed the sketch pad on the table towards Taiga. “Let’s not prolong this, tell me what happened last night.”

Taiga sat straight. He started writing down what had happened yesterday, not in detail as he left out some parts of what Hokuto was yelling about yesterday. It was taking him a while since his hands were shaking as he wrote down what happened. Him coming from a human experiment facility was not something he shared at all. Kouchi read it once Taiga was done. Kouchi’s eyes widen and his jaw dropped open, he did not expect that Hokuto would even so lift a finger on Taiga let alone throw him down on the floor.

“Has this happened before?”

Taiga gave a nod.

“Worse?”

Taiga nodded.

“Is that why Juri found you at the park like that?”

Taiga was reluctant and did not respond. He avoided eye contact with Kouchi and looked out the window.

“We need to go and talk with Hokuto’s psych. Get a proper diagnosis about this.”

Taiga took deep breaths before he stood up and went to his bed. He took off Juri’s jacket and folded it under his blanket. Kouchi caught sight of it while Taiga was changing clothes, he had new fresh bruises on his arm.

Kouchi, Fuma, Taiga, and Hokuto’s psychiatrist discussed what Taiga told Kouchi and Fuma also informed them about times that Hokuto became violent but had no recollection of it after when Fuma talked to him about it. After a while Hokuto got up from his bed and joined them, Hokuto sat beside Taiga with Fuma at the other end of the sofa.

“Just tell me, what’s wrong with me.” Hokuto said.

His psychiatrist finished up writing down things in Hokuto’s records before he started talking and explained to Hokuto everything. “It’s pretty common for people who have undergone trauma and a lot of stress. But we still have to go through multiple sessions to have a better diagnosis of why you are having these blackouts.”

Hokuto sighed. “If there’s nothing else, I’d love to be alone with Taiga now. Fuma, take over all the scheduled meetings for the coming days. I’d like to rest for a while.”

“Why were you working on a Saturday, anyway?” Fuma scolded him before leaving them alone.

Once the doors closed Hokuto reached for Taiga’s hand. “I’m so sorry I hurt you, Taiga.” Hokuto scrambled his head for an apology but he couldn’t come up with anything. He couldn’t remember what he had to say sorry for, the last thing he remembered about yesterday was passing out on Taiga’s lap. He pulled in Taiga closer to him, let him lean his head on his chest. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” He kissed the top of Taiga’s head before repeating his apology again and again.

* * *

Juri loaded some of his dirty laundry that Shintarou was not able to finish yesterday before he gathered and ironed those that were already dried. He spent the whole Sunday morning cleaning his apartment, thinking that if Taiga were to come back he did not deserve to live in such a filthy environment. Jesse was able to order in everything he needed but there were a couple of things Jesse missed, most things were the things that’s supposedly for Taiga. Juri made a list of everything he needed to buy and decided to leave for the supermarket after he had finished hanging his laundry. Just in time that Juri hung the last of his washed laundry, his doorbell rang.

Kouchi was at the other side of the door along with three men in black suits. Juri opened his door but talked with them while standing at his doorway.

“What is this about?”

Kouchi scratched his nose. “You sort of have to come with them to Hokuto’s place.”

“I need to fix myself up a little, I’ve. been cleaning all day.” Juri pulled Kouchi inside his apartment. “You guys can wait there, right? Thanks!” He closed the door without letting the other three people inside. “What the hell, Kouchi?” Juri asked when they were in the living room.

“Juri… he’s loaded and he owns, I think, quite a bit of the hospital where I work.”

Juri took in a deep breath. “I’m sorry for getting you involved in this.”

“You really didn’t know either. I told you, it’s always the beautiful ones that are dangerous. And that goes for both Taiga and Hokuto. We better get moving, Juri. I have not yet experienced the hard way of getting there and I wouldn’t want to.”

* * *

Kouchi was dropped off at the hospital before Juri was taken to Hokuto's estate. Juri felt under dressed in his jeans and gray hoodie, he would have worn his black one as it was what Taiga was used to him wearing but he just could not find it anywhere in his apartment. He straightened up, he did not want Hokuto to think that he was intimidated by all of this.

Juri was taken to Hokuto's study.

"Take a seat." Hokuto said when Juri entered the room, Hokuto was seated on the single chair at the end of the center table.

Juri really did not want to get too close to him that he chose to sit in the middle of the sofa that was parallel to Hokuto's seat. "Did you call me here to threaten my job again? You already got what you wanted, right?"

"That's just it, Juri." Hokuto leaned back on his seat. "I didn't get what I wanted."

The door opened and in came Taiga. Juri stood up from his seat, it was as though time stopped for him and he could see nothing else but Taiga. Taiga himself was stunned where he was standing, eyes widening and lips slightly parting. Juri's heart pounded hard in his chest, his face remained blank, still not believing the sight of Taiga. Taiga's eyes slowly softened and his lips curved into a smile, he ran to Juri and threw his arms around him. It was all too unexpected that Juri lost his balance and he dropped down on the sofa.

Juri held Taiga close, caressing the back of his head. Taiga embraced him tighter, taking in his scent, a scent he missed and longed for for over a month now.

Juri was the first to break the silence with his chuckle. "If you hug me any tighter I might not be able to breathe."

Taiga softly giggled and pulled away a little so that they were looking eye to eye. Taiga tilted his head to the left and smiled, Juri cupped his face with his hand and caressed his cheek with his thumb. What they told him was right, Taiga did seem to have lost some weight.

The two of them seemed to have forgotten all about Hokuto being in the room with them. Hokuto with his clenched fist, face unreadable, merely watched them and let them be.

"Taiga, we're with company." Juri swept Taiga's hair. "This isn't exactly proper behavior."

Taiga nodded disappointedly as he wanted to be held close by Juri longer. He shifted and sat beside Juri, he settled for just holding Juri's hand.

Hokuto cleared his throat. “He seemed to have missed you a lot. I figured it’s only fair I let him see you. Even if it’s just for today.”

"Hokuto, I bet with a house this big you have a fully stocked kitchen. Do you mind if I use it?" Juri said. "I'm sorry for being forward, if you're giving us the day I might as well make the best out of it."

Hokuto tried to ease up, his jealousy was already over the top the minute Taiga ran towards Juri. "Taiga can take you there."

Taiga stood up in a heartbeat and half dragged Juri with him. Hokuto's chest clenched as he watched the two leave the room.

Taiga walked so fast Juri almost could not keep up. They entered the kitchen, it was almost as big as Juri's whole apartment, no one else was there but them. Taiga pinned Juri between him and the door, looking at his face, studying it as if it was the first time he was looking at Juri. 

Juri looked directly at Taiga's eyes, they were just as bright as he remembered them to be. Juri traced Taiga's smile with his thumb before cupping his face, Taiga leaned in to his touch. Juri pulled him in a little closer and kissed his forehead.

"I missed you too, Taiga. But right now, I really want to cook for you. Have you seen yourself in the mirror lately? You lost a lot of weight." Juri caressed his head. "Would you want some stuffed tomatoes?"

Taiga excitedly nodded. They still held hands as they walked further into the kitchen, only letting go when Juri sat Taiga at one of the counter chairs. Juri wanted to do everything on his own while Taiga watched but of course Taiga was not one to follow right now as he wanted to help out a little even if all he does was fool around: randomly poking Juri's cheeks while he chopped ingredients, spreading some sauce in Juri's face, bumping his head on Juri's back, and whatever he could think off. Not that Juri minded anything, Taiga could cut him up right now and he still wouldn't care. What mattered to him now was Taiga was there, Taiga was close. Even if it is just for today, he'd make the most out of this.

Hokuto observed them from afar. He hadn't seen Taiga this lively since he moved back in with him. Hokuto gripped on the doorknob tightly, jaw clenching. This was Taiga he wanted to come back to him, this was the Taiga he longed for, this was the Taiga he loved, but the thing that hurt Hokuto the most was the fact that this was the Taiga he broke without even knowing it. Hokuto took in deep breaths to compose himself before entering the kitchen.

"Everything alright?" Hokuto asked as he took a seat at the counter.

"Set the table for three, Taiga." Juri said as he checked on the stuffed tomatoes in the oven.

Taiga nodded, his expression now neutral with Hokuto around. Taiga set up the table for three and offered Hokuto some chicken roll wraps while they waited for Juri to finish up with the rest of the dishes: stuffed tomatoes and tomato-based pasta. Taiga was more relaxed when Juri was seated next to him, he reached for Juri's phone while the three of them ate and handed it to Juri.

"Hhhmmm, nothing much. I worked mostly, day in and day out. I fixed every other layout, even those not assigned to me to get my mind off of you." Juri said before taking a forkful of pasta before continuing.

Hokuto was quick to pick up, Taiga was asking Juri about things that happened to him while he was gone. Taiga was listening intently to Juri, nodding every now and then. Typing in something to Juri’s phone and the process repeated itself, Taiga was not even bothering to even glance at him and focused his attention on Juri. Hokuto was gripping tighter on his fork, praying to every god how he wished it was him instead and not Juri but knowing fully well who was responsible for all these.

"Mostly ate take outs and instant noodles." Juri was now at the part of his diet for the past month.

Taiga pouted upon hearing that Juri wasn't eating so well.

Juri chuckled. "You're one to react. You've lost just as much weight." Juri took a spoonful of stuffed tomatoes and fed it to Taiga.

"Juri." Hokuto called his attention. "You can stay over tonight if you'd want."

Taiga looked hopeful but Juri shook his head.

"Nah, it'll be harder to part in the morning. I wouldn't want Taiga overthinking being the cause of the first ever dent in my perfect attendance at work."

“I see.” Hokuto wiped his mouth with a napkin. “You can leave the cleaning up to the maids. Taiga, entertain your guest at your room so you could have some privacy.”

“Are you not afraid I might run off with Taiga?”

Hokuto scoffed. “Don’t underestimate my security team, Juri. Taiga and I will take you home later so better come by my study later if you want to go home already.”

Taiga held Juri’s hand as he excitedly showed him the way to his room at the other end of the hall. There were two guards following a few steps behind them as Taiga was walking really fast even Juri was having a hard time to keep up. Taiga opened the door and let Juri in first, turning back to narrow his eyes at the guards as a signal that they should just stay outside of his room. Taiga entered his room and held on to Juri’s arm with both of his.

“You sure have it nice here, Taiga.” Juri was dejected as he scanned the room. The life he offered to Taiga for the past month was nothing compared to the life that Taiga seemed to be used to.

Taiga tugged at Juri’s arm to make him look at him and pouted.

Juri lightly chuckled. “Could you stop being adorable?” He playfully pinched Taiga’s cheek.

Taiga pulled Juri and had him sit on his bed. It was the only place in the room where they could sit and directly see the television. Taiga went over to the other side of the bed to sit beside Juri, leaving a few inches of space between them while he looked for a movie to stream on the television. Juri readjusted the pillow behind him so he could lean on it but when he raised it up he noticed something under it, it was his black hoodie.

“Taiga.” Juri pulled out the hoodie while laughing lightly. “Did you steal my hoodie?”

Taiga’s face flushed from the embarrassment of being discovered, he let go of the remote to hide his face behind his hands.

“I’m taking it home with me if you don’t put your hands down.”

Taiga pulled the hoodie from Juri’s hands and shoved it under his other pillow.

Juri pulled him in an embrace. “Well, at least I know you missed me as much as I missed you.”

* * *

Before they knew it they had already finished three movies and it was already dark outside. Taiga embraced Juri tight one last time before he changed his clothes, he wore Juri’s hoodie for now and they went to Hokuto’s study. Taiga didn’t want to let him go, he wanted to have more time with Juri.

Taiga sat in between Juri and Hokuto at the backseat of the car, holding on to Juri’s hand. Taiga’s grip tightened when they pulled over Juri’s apartment building, his lips sealed together in a frown. Juri squeezed his hand and pulled him close so he could kiss him on the forehead.

“It was nice seeing you again, Taiga. Take care of yourself.” Juri gently pulled his hand away from Taiga’s and got out of the car.

Taiga watched as Juri walked away, hoping with all his heart that he would turn around and run to steal him away. But Juri didn’t, he disappeared to the stairs of his apartment building, not even briefly looking back.

Hokuto unfastened Taiga’s seatbelt. “Go.” Hokuto said.

Taiga looked at him in disbelief, stunned at what Hokuto just told him to do.

“Go, Taiga. I’m not… I won’t threaten Juri’s job again or any of his friends for that matter I assure you that.” Hokuto cupped Taiga’s face with his hand, tracing the outline of it, savoring the last few minutes they had together. “Go, Taiga.”

And there it was, what he so longed for to see. Taiga smiled at him and nodded before he got out of the car to follow Juri. Taiga ran up the stairs and to the door of Juri’s apartment, pressing the doorbell multiple times as he could not and did not want to wait anymore. Juri opened the door and Taiga pushed him aside so he could enter, removing his shoes and wearing his indoor slippers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for taking time to read this! After months of thinking about how this ends I settled on ending it with the 9th chapter, I could not really think of an ending suited for this than what would happen in the 9th chapter that is already in my drafts, it just needs some polishing and thinking through before I push forward with posting it. Thank you for sticking around and reading this despite the erratic schedule of updates I have for this one. I have two other fiascos going on and I needed to finish at least one so I could focus a little bit more on the ones that doesn't even have drafts yet unlike this one. I really loved making this AU even if I had a really hard time with Taiga not speaking at all. I had a lot of firsts with this one and honestly it was a bit hard since I did not talk much about this fic with anyone and I really didn't know what I should do with this. 
> 
> I am hoping this was worth your time. And again, thank you for sticking around.
> 
> If you have any comments, suggestions, or maybe a request you can hit me up at:  
> twitter @geeelatinnn  
> curious cat https://curiouscat.qa/geeelatinnn  
> or you can leave a comment down below


	9. This... Us...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juri’s face flushed and he turned around before Taiga noticed it, opening the refrigerator door to let some cool air touch his burning skin. He was not sure how he should interpret what Taiga just said, he was still figuring out Taiga himself and now that he talks there is so much more to learn about him you wouldn’t be able to just from reading a binder of information about him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it~ this is the finale of this fiasco! I hope you would enjoy reading this and I really am thankful that you took time to read this 9 chaptered KyomoJuri fiasco~

Juri woke up alone in his bed when he could clearly remember falling asleep with Taiga beside him last night, or was his memory playing with him as he spent almost half the day with Taiga yesterday. As soon as he stepped out of his room he was greeted by the scent of coffee, and there Taiga was in the kitchen. Making two tumblers of coffee. Juri hugged him from behind, leaning his head on Taiga’s shoulder, and Taiga petted his head but pulled away from him. Taiga showed Juri the time on Juri’s phone.

“Why do you have my phone? It’s okay, I can just call in another work from home even just for today.”

Taiga shook his head and pulled up Juri’s calendar app and showed him the notes and reminders placed there.

“Oh, so you’re snooping around my phone now?” Juri took his phone from Taiga’s hand.

Taiga stuck his tongue out before pushing Juri until he was inside the bathroom. Juri really didn’t want to leave but Taiga was determined to have him out the door. Taiga laid out his clothes for him and even got his bag ready. Just like any other day, Taiga waved goodbye to him as Juri left for work.

Juri was bothered leaving Taiga home alone the first day he was finally back again. For one, maybe it was just another free day pass from Hokuto and when he comes back home Taiga might no longer be there again. He didn’t want his thoughts to wander around too much, he didn’t want to think that Taiga came back only to leave him again the next day.

* * *

“Juri, someone wants to meet you at the conference room.” Shintarou’s eyes glowed at the sight of his familiar tumbler and he reached for it right away. “I was told to tell you as soon as you arrive.”

“I’m charging you for the coffee next time, by the way. I don’t know how much longer I’ll have to pay for the living expenses of two people.” Juri need not have asked who it was that requested for him at the conference room, who else but Matsumura Hokuto would even bother with him. “Are you here to threaten my job again?” Juri said as soon as he entered the room, taking a seat parallel to where Hokuto sat.

“I promised Taiga I wouldn’t do it again. And besides, I admit defeat.” Hokuto slid a ring binder over the table towards Juri. “That’s everything you need to know about Taiga.”

Juri flipped over the front page and scanned through some of the pages. It was Taiga’s medical records and other things including records from when Taiga was in a human experiment facility.

“You see, I bought Taiga, literally, from a human experiment facility my parents used to take me to. Now that I know about my condition I understand why I was being taken to such a place.” There wasn’t a hint of hesitation in Hokuto’s voice, he was determined to tell Juri everything today. “I found Taiga there one day. As you may have already noticed, Taiga’s behaviour is a bit unusual. That’s because he was being conditioned to be a pet. I wanted to save him from the godawful condition so I bought him out of it but I grew to love him, want him for my own… But now… I’m not what Taiga needs, I broke him… You need not know the details. But, if being with you is what makes him be back to normal then that’s something I would willingly accept.” Hokuto handed Juri Taiga’s IDs and a bank card.

“I don’t need your money.” Juri pushed back the bank card towards Hokuto.

Hokuto laughed. “I knew you’d say that. But you saw the life I was able to provide for Taiga. I don’t want him to not get what he wants and honestly, I do love him. He has a 5% share in my company, legally, and he knows it. I’m not going to take it away from him and he can use it however he wants. Taiga was, and will always be part of my family. I’d ask him for forgiveness eventually, but not now. He needs his time to heal.” Hokuto’s phone started to ring and Hokuto rejected the call. “I guess time’s up. Everything you need to know is in that folder. Don’t make the same mistake I did, Juri.” Hokuto pushed the bank card back at Juri.

Juri spent his lunch period reading about Taiga from the binder that Hokuto gave him. All the stuff that Taiga went through, detailed accounts of everything, it was making Juri see Taiga in a new light. He wanted now more than ever to protect Taiga and now he understood why it was taking a while for Taiga to speak, why Taiga has always been hostile when meeting new people.

Juri clocked out a little earlier than usual as he wanted to stop by the supermarket to buy some things they might need for dinner. He scrambled for his keys, he could smell something burning and he was worried it was his whole apartment that once he got the door opened he ran to the kitchen.

The room was filled with smoke and Jesse's loud laughter. Taiga was holding a plate of burnt steak and had a worried expression on his face. 

"I told you we should have just gotten food delivered and transferred it on plates. They wouldn't need to know." Jesse laughed.

Juri hit Jesse's shoulders. "Why are you teaching him to lie?" He put down the grocery bags first before taking the plate of burnt steak from Taiga's hand and embracing him.

Taiga pouted as he leaned his head on Juri's chest.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Juri asked Jesse while he continued to console Taiga by caressing his hair.

"I wanted to check on you. But it was Taiga who opened the door for me. For the first time, he finally let me in instead of having me wait for you. He was watching cooking shows on the tv and I did try to stop him."

"Oh well, it seemed like you failed."

Taiga buried his face harder on Juri's chest.

"The two of you clean this up while I change my clothes." Juri gently pulled Taiga off of him and rubbed his cheek with his thumb. "Message the other two that they can take their time as dinner might take a while." Juri took his bag with him to his room, he hid the binder and the cards Hokuto gave him in his dresser for now deciding to talk about it with Taiga during the weekend, when they have more time rather than the brief window they have before Juri leaves for work.

Jesse and Taiga both sat in the kitchen while Juri cooked their meal. Jesse was telling Taiga all about his upcoming drama and was already satisfied with Taiga just nodding along. Kouchi and Shintarou came just in time that Juri was done cooking their meal. Shintarou bought a cake on his way back and had the words 'welcome back' written on it in icing.

They all took turns telling Taiga about what he missed about their lives and Taiga listened to all of them intently. In an attempt to try and get him to talk, Shintarou proposed a game of cards. But still, it ended up with Taiga only showing them different expressions on his face until Juri ended up playing with two sets of cards, his and Taiga's.

They got a little carried away playing old maid which Jesse lost most matches that they lost track of time. Kouchi went back to his apartment and offered Shintarou and Jesse if they wanted to stay over at his place for once.

"Nah," Shintarou spoke up to decline. "Juri's body wash smells better and Taiga makes a hella cup of coffee so I'd rather stay over here."

"I'm charging you guys for the coffee starting tomorrow by the way." Juri pointed fingers at everyone but no one seemed to have paid attention to what he said: Kouchi going out of the main door, Jesse and Shintarou entering the guest room, and Taiga swinging Juri's arm to get him inside the bedroom.

Taiga laid down on the side of the bed close to the wall, shifting a little on his side to make room for Juri. Having Taiga here, Juri did not want to ask for anything more. Maybe, Taiga to talk would be something he’d ask for but that’s something he’s willing to wait for.

* * *

It went on for five straight nights. Everyone coming over at Juri’s place, Jesse bringing grocery with him, Shintarou bringing different board games and card games every night, and Kouchi doing routine check-ups on Taiga’s wounds. Both Jesse and Shintarou always stayed the night, even bringing an extra set of clothes with them already.

Taiga’s leg jerked and it woke Juri up. Juri thought that Taiga was probably still on high from the Monopoly game they had with Shintarou and Jesse last night and he lightly chuckled as Taiga’s face was mimicking some of his reactions last night. Juri shifted his position to reach his phone, Shintarou and Jesse both sent him messages that they already left and didn’t want to disturb Juri’s sleep so they didn’t bother to say goodbye in person. Shintarou sent a photo of the fruit salad he made before leaving, knowing fully well that Juri sleeps in during the weekends and would probably be hungry by the time he does wake up. Juri slipped off of the bed carefully, tucking in Taiga under the blanket.

Juri took the binder he got from Hokuto and brought it with him to the living room, there were some pages he was yet to read and he only has the brief window between now and the time Taiga wakes up. He was hesitant, thinking the morning might not be the best time to talk about it but it was already 10am. Important things like these should not be rushed nor ignored for too long.

Juri sat at the chair that was directly in line with his bedroom door. Flipping through the pages of the binder made him feel like he was violating Taiga’s privacy and at the same time getting to know him on an intimate level. Hokuto kept a pretty detailed record of Taiga and there were some pictures here and there. Towards the end, the doctor’s name changed to Kouchi’s and the records were shorter. It made Juri think that Kouchi and Taiga talked about things that Kouchi did not document to keep from Hokuto.

Taiga came out of the room, his eyes were still a little heavy from oversleeping. The first thing he noticed was the binder at Juri’s hand, recognizing it immediately and grabbed it from Juri as fast as he could. Taiga held on the binder tightly as he sat down on the sofa. Fear and worry painted his face, his hands were shaking while gripping on the binder. He could not look at Juri, worried about how much Juri has read already.

“Taiga, I’ve had that binder since Monday. I’ve pretty much read everything there.” Juri tried to sound as calm as he could. He wanted to come close to Taiga, hold him while saying all his thoughts but Taiga might not be comfortable about it right now.

Taiga lifted his head, eyes widening in shock and lips slightly parted. He swallowed a lump of air, looking down again, trying to organize his thoughts, where he should begin.

“Honestly, I’d rather have you tell me these things but I don’t want to force you to talk. Take your time.” Juri stood up. “You must be hungry. I’ll go prepare some food first while you process things.”

“Juri.” Taiga called him, for the first time since they met and Juri was stunned where he was standing seemingly not knowing how or what he should respond with. “Juri. I’ll tell you. So please, sit down.” He gently placed down the binder on the center table.

Juri knelt in front of Taiga and held both his hands, Taiga’s hands were still a little shaky. “You don’t have to force yourself, okay?” He locked his eyes on Taiga. “I can wait.”

Taiga shook his head, rubbing his thumbs over Juri’s hands. “Sit down. This might take long.”

Juri let go of both of Taiga’s hands and sat next to him. “Just… talk about what you’re ready to talk about.”

“It’s just… it’s different… Hokuto and I… You and I… it’s different.” Taiga was shaking his head with his eyes closed, scrambling for the right words to use. He was taking in deep breaths before he continued. “You’ve pretty much read where I came from and my medical records. But, about Hokuto… it’s different. I was… I was his pet. But Hokuto doesn’t think so. I was happy the first year I was taken to their estate, his parents were nice, Hokuto was nice... “ His voice was shaking. “Hokuto’s love… it’s different from yours…”

Juri held one of Taiga's hands. "Taiga."

Taiga shook his head. "Hokuto… he has blackouts and episodes… that's why he can only remember the good things. He loves me because I keep him company. You've seen the estate, it gets pretty lonely being surrounded by people on a payroll. I tried… but… we did whatever he wanted and he just… he looked so lonely I wanted to be there for him… but… his blackouts worsened after the death of his parents. No one else knew about his therapy sessions… the place I came from… Hokuto doesn't know he was going there for conditioning, I don't know all the details either."

The two of them fell silent for a while. Juri pulled in Taiga to lean on him. He rubbed Taiga's arm gently, trying to calm him down as the longer he spoke the more his voice shook.

"Juri. I just… I don't know how to say it…" Taiga was starting to even out his breathing, being held by Juri made him feel at ease. "I still have those strange actions… acting like a pet… there are times that I can't help it and I'm thankful… thankful that you never treated me like one… well, except for the occasional baths I somehow get you to do for me."

Juri chuckled. "I can't say no when you're being adorable." He intertwined their fingers, admiring the contrast of their skin.

"I never went out of Hokuto's estate. Even my doctor appointments were done there. On the few times I did go out, it was for the hospital. Hokuto actually… well, abandoned me the night you found me at the park but I'd bet he doesn't remember doing so."

"Taiga, I'm not going to ask anything further. You decide what you want to tell me, when to tell me. I can't give you the life that Hokuto was able to provide for you."

"I'll be a massive burden for you… but…"

"Take small steps, Taiga. Get used to interacting with people first. We'll figure out the rest along the way." Juri held him closer. "You're shaking so much. Maybe that's enough for today."

"I'm scared, Juri."

"Of what? It's just us here, Taiga."

"I'm scared… I'm scared because you might think differently of me now… I don't know"

"I'm not going to throw you out. It was you who decided to come back, need I remind you?" Juri lightly chuckled. "I can't really deny the fact that I want you here too. I want to know more about you. I want you to trust me more if this is going to work…" Juri stopped himself, afraid he might say a little too much. 

"This?" Taiga shifted his position to look at Juri's face.

Juri chuckled nervously. "This. Us living together. It's nice. Going home and having someone to talk to about your day… someone who needs you."

"I am very needy though."

"We'll see about that now that you're finally talking. Maybe we'll have arguments this time… maybe those three will visit more often. But remember not to open the door unless they brought food with them."

Taiga rested his head on Juri’s lap, eyes closed, and his knees raised up so he could fit the length of the sofa. “Thank you, Juri. Thank you for being patient with me.”

Juri played with Taiga’s hair. “I kind of have to get up now, Taiga. Both of us haven’t eaten yet.”

“Can’t we just order out? Have something delivered?”

“Wow, now that you talk you’re rather demanding, huh?” Juri pinched both of Taiga’s cheeks. “You should remember we’re still a one paycheck household. I really can’t give you Hokuto’s fancy life.”

“I have money.” Taiga showed no sign of moving, he did not want to. “I was paid for the experiment and stayed at the facility for six years. In total, I haven’t spent money for the past 10 years but I am earning. My account containing the money I saved up from the facility pay is at the end of that binder. Hokuto probably still has my other bank account.”

“Are you really still thinking of spending money Hokuto gives you?” Juri’s voice was low and his jaw clenched. He was not a fan of the idea of Taiga still being dependent on Hokuto’s help even if that is what he was accustomed to.

“I earn that money fair and square. I designed toys and so I get share sales from them. It’s not a very stable income though. But as I’ve said, it’s been a really long time since I spent my own money.” Taiga got up. “But let’s do whatever you decide on.” He smiled at Juri like he normally does whenever he agrees with whatever Juri says.

“I like cooking for you. Maybe now that you’re talking I’ll finally get more than just a smile and a nod to know you if you like what I’m giving you.” Juri stood up. “Nothing fancy today, though, I’m a little pressed for time.”

“Or maybe, I won’t talk at all again. Now that I’ve cleared some air.” As if by instinct Taiga followed after Juri to the kitchen.

“We’ve already eased your habit of following me around and now you’re doing it again. Why don’t you go read your manga?”

“But I want to be with you.”

Juri’s face flushed and he turned around before Taiga noticed it, opening the refrigerator door to let some cool air touch his burning skin. He was not sure how he should interpret what Taiga just said, he was still figuring out Taiga himself and now that he talks there is so much more to learn about him you wouldn’t be able to just from reading a binder of information about him.

“What would you want to eat?”

“Katsudon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for taking time to read this! Thank you for sticking around for the past nine chapters. I'm hoping I was able to tie up the story well and answer at least some questions that were left hanging in the air. It took me months before I finally posted this and I edit the chapters a little before posting them since there were things that still bothered me and I feel like this is really lacking a lot of things. 
> 
> If you have any comments, suggestions, or maybe a request you can hit me up at:  
> twitter @geeelatinnn  
> curious cat https://curiouscat.qa/geeelatinnn  
> or you can leave a comment down below
> 
> A kudos warms my heart knowing that someone out there enjoyed reading my work.
> 
> I would greatly appreciate it if you buy me coffee at https://ko-fi.com/geeelatinnn if you feel like it. Thank you~

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for taking time to read this. It warms my heart that someone out there took time to read my work. I am open to suggestions and comments. A kudos would make me smile knowing that someone out there liked what I put out :)


End file.
